Girls soccer knots 2-2 with P-Town

By Allison Goldsmith

Saturday

Mar 1, 2014 at 2:00 AM

I&M Sports Editor

The girls soccer team stepped up its intensity and focus and in an tight back-and-forth match against Provincetown on Monday, the Whalers tied the Lighthouse Conference opponent, 3-3. Also this week, Nantucket beat Chatham 4-0.

The Whalers, who improved to 4-4-2 overall on the season and 2-1-1 in the Lighthouse Conference, are scheduled to play Norwood at home on Friday and on the road on Saturday.

“We are getting better, without a doubt. We are a work in progress. We are going forward as a team, technically, tactically and now mentally. We have all the tools, we just have to use them at the right time and against the right opponents,” head coach Jorge Rojas said.

Against Provincetown on Monday, the Whalers showed signs of playing soccer they way Rojas would like to see them play.

“We had been working on intensity and keeping focus on our play. We have been lacking of that, but in this game it showed that we can do it. We can focus and bring up the intensity and play good soccer, and it was a very good display of beautiful soccer in the second half,” Rojas said. “The whole score was back and forth like a boxing match.”

In the 11th minute the Whalers threw the first punch. Aileen Fredericks scored on an assist by Kate MacLellan. Provincetown fought back and broke down the Whalers’ defense to score two goals in the half to take a 2-1 lead at the break.

But in the second half, the Whalers played one of their best halves of soccer this season.

“The second half was the half, the one I had been looking for, for so long to see if we have it. I have been asking the team to bring it up to be tough, to be focused,” Rojas said.

The Whalers were in the attacking mode as they peppered the Provincetown goalie with shots. On one rush, MacLellan took the ball from the right side and sent a cross pass into the middle. Shantel Hanniford connected with the ball and knocked it past the keeper for the tying goal.

The back and forth play continued between the two teams when a Provincetown player took a long shot from the 18-yard line that found the back of the Whalers’ net.

Down 3-2, the Whalers kept attacking the net, especially MacLellan, who had at least 12 shots on goal, Rojas said.

“We had plenty of time, and the girls just kept attacking and tried to go for it. Kate just kept getting chances to score goals,” Rojas said.

Finally MacLellan took the ball through three players and put it on the ground to the right side of the keeper to score the game-tying goal. Whaler goalie Sarah Poor made a game-saving stop on a penalty kick late in the game to preserve the tie for Nantucket.

Shifting around

On Saturday against Chatham, the Whalers took the opportunity to play with their line-up, after defeating the Blue Devils 6-2 earlier this season at home. “I saw it was a pretty good rival to switch line-ups against, so I was trying to give everyone a chance to play,” Rojas said.

The Whalers didn’t score until the 20th minute of the first half, but picked up two goals to lead 2-0 at the break.

“In the first half we were dominating, attacking, creating chances and stopping a lot,” Rojas said.

The first goal was set up by Paige Thomas, who sent a crossing pass to Mandy Cahill. The ball bounced off a Chatham player on its way to the back of the net, with the goal awarded to Cahill and Nantucket. Still in the first half, Haley Cabre took the ball from the right side of the field and instead of sending in a crossing pass, took the shot inside the near post for the 2-0 advantage.

In the second half, Rojas continued to play with his line-up. Cahill was in the action again as she crossed the ball to Shantel Hanniford in the box.

Hanniford poked the ball past the keeper for the 3-0 advantage. Twelve minutes later, Cahill stole the ball from a Blue Devil player, dribbled into the box and knocked it past the keeper on the near post for the score. Whitney Jennison also played well from midfield for the Whalers.

Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com

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